The Chinese New Year of 2018 falls on the mid-term of February, a date that is very awkward for making good plans for life and work of a person, a company, or even a country.

Each year there are a number of lives that are lost regretably and pointlessly either in the traffic accident on the way for family reunion or in the abandon craze of the new year.

What is sad is that people have more interest in their handset than in having face to face talk with their family when they stay together after so much trouble.

My suggestion to the authority in charge of setting public holidays:

1. Abolish lunar new year
2. Make January 1 the New Year of the country
3. Give more holidays for different groups to avoid "all people do the same thing at the same time", which is technically impossible and meaningless in practice. You want to stay with your family, you can find a time that suits you, because when other people enjoy a good meal with a lot of nice foods, you do not necessarily have the same.
4. More will come after I have a thought

I quite agree. it is a misnomer to call it "Chinese New Year" and it is anything but "festive". It's also a huge drain on the economy and firecrackers are bad for the environment as well as people's health.

Each year when it is the time of the lunar new year, people begin to be confused with the calendar day, what they know is only the first day of the new year, the second, the third..., which if it is not a regression is ridiculous.

Some may argue that we need a festival to continue Chinese culture, but if you can ban firecrackers, what else can you not ban if you really want to? No Chinese today would dress in the old-style clusmsy costume as their ancesters did, so a lunar new year is only an excuse. Why not find something more meaningful to carry on Chinese cultures if they are really worth the trouble? The spring travel rush is always a pain to most people except those working in transport because they could earn a lot. But they do not forget to tell you that they also need a time for happy reunion, as you can see in the hot video online made by a Hong Kong director Chan Ho San, "Three Minutes". Money you earn, troubles we share, ridiculous!

A good vacation should give the people enough time to enjoy themselves and relax, but Spring Festival is not a relaxation, people have to pay a lot of money, energy, trouble and get even more tired than before the vacation, what's more, the productivity of many public units especially government agencies are brought down by the tiring and long break.

The biggest downside with the Spring holiday is its impact on the economy. It means most businesses shut down or reduce their staff and services. It makes no sense to shut down entire plants for weeks, even a whole month and to release all the employees on leave, paid or not paid.

But then again I realise that we in the West enjoy a freedom the Chinese don't know: the right to choose the season even the month, when we want to take a family holiday abroad or somewhere in-country. Here in China everyone must be told by the rulers when they can go home to reunite with their next-of-kin.